Beck's Collaborates to Improve Corn Hybrids

May 10, 2017

May 10, 2017 by Sonja Begemann

Partnering with Kaiima, an Israel-based plant breeding company, Beck’s is working to create better corn hybrids, faster. The collaboration follows a three year program assessing Kaiima’s EP technology in Beck’s corn germplasm.
Kaiima uses non-GMO breeding techniques to find and identify desirable genetic traits faster—though GMO traits could later be integrated. Using the plant’s own DNA, EP increases plant performance by introducing diversity in the genome. Unlike other gene editing platforms EP doesn’t target a specific gene and change it, instead it selects a number of random genes in the genome and changes them. Kaiima suggests this is beneficial for factors such as yield, where a large number of genes are responsible for the outcome.
The two companies will begin breeding activities spring 2017. Kaiima works with all major crops and plant species, though Beck’s plans to focus on corn hybrids. Potential future benefits could include better yield, tolerance to stress and reduced product development timelines.